GM food should be labelled, according to survey

Over two-thirds of UK consumers believe all genetically-modified food should be labelled as such, reports telegraph.co.uk.

The study, which comes from a report by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), also found that a mere two per cent of consumers look for GM content when buying foods for the first time.

By questioning nearly 1,500 UK individuals about their attitudes toward GM food labelling, the FSA discovered that consumers actually had a very low awareness of GM labelling requirements.

"There was a strong assumption that products containing GM would be regulated and labelling," the report reads, cited by foodnavigator.com. "This assumption tended to extend to only GM ingredients, as there was typically no awareness of the use of HM animal feed or GMOs used in food production."

Currently under EU law, food such as flour, oils and glucose syrups have to have labels which state they contain GM ingredients, but meat, milk and eggs - which come from animals fed on GM animal feed - do not.

Consequently, the FSA is working with the EU over how to label the use of GM in food products in the future.

Dr Julian Little, chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, commented on the use of GM: "Giving UK consumers greater confidence in the science and safety of agricultural technologies will allow them to make an informed decision on the future role for such innovations in the UK."